The phrase LTN has only existed since last year, so the oldest LTN is Staveley Road. Everything before that was either a road closure or adapting the horse and cart network. Most of the roads you have listed are part of 3 groups, all of which were to make car ownership and driving better. First there are all the roads cut off by the A4, some were closed when the road was built and have never joined the A4, others were changed later. By inconveniencing a few residents journey times on the A4 are improved. With the threat of closing every side road that connects to the A4 it is clear that it is not for locals to use, but just for people driving through Chiswick. If you offered the residents a choice of reconnecting their roads and having a few more people drive past their front door, or keeping the roads closed and keeping the six lanes of traffic in their gardens, I wonder which would be considered the low traffic option? The second group are changes because of changes to cars. About 30 years ago cars were made safer with airbags, side impact bars and other features that made cars wider. In the 70’s car ownership wasn’t a big problem. By the 80’s households with two cars was becoming a problem but with the width of cars most roads could fit parked cars either side and still fit one car each way. By the 90’s cars were wider creating a problem that hadn’t existed before. Planners had 2 options, lose 50% of the parking and keep the road two way, or keep the parking and make the road one way. Acton Lane, Southfield Road and Sutton Court Road lost 50% of the parking, which improved the traffic. Although car ownership has declined I would guess residents would accept the inconvenience of a one way road, so they can keep 50% of the parking, not just for themselves, but for visitors, tradespeople and deliveries. The third group are changes to the horse and cart network. Woodstock Road, Chiswick Common Road, Beverley Road, Riverview Grove and a few more have been closed to make it better for cars, if these roads were open they have poor sight lines for exiting and would create difficult cross roads. So by causing a minor diversion for a few people, they improve safety for everyone driving and walking. Sorry not my fault planners for the last 110+ never really thought about cyclists. I see that you have finally mentioned Compton Crescent, now you know it exists maybe you could send your wife and child that way instead of sending them on the cycle route google maps suggests. I am surprised you haven’t mentioned the road before as it is the only one on the list that was put in place to stop cars. Unfortunately it wasn’t a forward thinking planner, it was a sensible/cheapskate landowner. Sutton Court is a private road and they didn’t want to pay for the upkeep of the road that other people were using, so they closed it. As you are trying to promote a TFL scheme, I find it odd you should mention Chiswick Lane as it is part of a failed TFL scheme. The plan was to have a bus lane from Hammersmith to Kew Bridge, the section on Kew Bridge was removed. Chiswick Lane to Goldhawk Road had to be completely redesigned. The section from Turnham Green to Chiswick Lane the reason for the closure, was never installed. Hounslow Council asked TFL to put the turning back, but TFL didn’t have the money. I wonder if history is repeating itself.
Colin Potter ● 1908d